Apple has published instructions for upgrading hard drives and RAM in its MacBook and MacBook Pro lines, and user-friendliness took another step backwards.
Before the "unibody" MacBook and MacBook Pros were introduced last October, memory replacement in both was a breeze. The MacBook in particular was an upgrader's delight, …

Easy

I've opened every one of my Macs except the original rounded iBook. Easy. Never had problems except the case latches above the optical drive slot on the AlBook. Always really simple.

This sounds even simpler. And if you take a look over at the Inq, you'll see they have an article about replacing the "unreplaceable" batteries in the seventeen incher.

Compared to PC slaptops, Macs are piss easy to service, perhaps because there are shops that provide free "take apart" guides. I've never had anything snap off inexplicably in an Apple machine when I've had it in bits. PCs though, have weird breakables.

You're probably one of these people that uses a #3 Philips or a Pozi bit in the #2 screws in a PC case. Or a house key.

I just realised something...

Mac users are like the religious people of the world. PC users are like the atheists.

Mac users get riled up when anyone attacks their precious brand belief.

PC users have NO brand beliefs (if they do, they also apply to Mac hardware. NVIDIA vs ATI, Intel vs AMD etc.) and as such can't really be insulted.

An atheist can offend the religious with their very existence. The religious are nothing but an illogical phenomenon to atheists and not really worth getting riled up over. Until they start killing people in the name of "Love".

In the same way, generic PC users can offend the Mac people of the world, but Mac users are just an illogical phenomenon to the generic PC users of the world.

Say what you want

but I get tech support for life on my apple laptop over here

--small difference between that and my Dell where I had to learn Indian-English and learn ultra-patience waiting on a long distance call while someone read off list items on a screen that I learned about when I was 3 years old about what troubleshooting steps to do... then the laptop died (no upgrade, no nothing just sat on desk and used all the time) after 1 1/2 years. Then when opened it found out hard drive was smaller than ordered....

be cheap, by a PC,

get angry, be cheaper and buy a netbook,

then get angry at the SOD with an apple laptop without issues or has things taken care of for lifetime ownership, get free training on how to use their laptop, OS, and applications to their full advantage....

Batteries

Nearly every laptop I've encountered has a swappable battery - many even hotswappable as long as you're on AC. It's ludicrous that one has to take a laptop into the shop to get a battery replaced.

With many PC laptops, it's usually just a couple of lock switches and it slides out. 0 screws. You can then take the battery to the shop and get a new one, and even if they don't have a new battery immediately, you can still run your laptop on AC meanwhile.

Whereas with Apple laptops as it seems, You have to take the whole unit into the shop and have your laptop inaccessible while you wait for it to be "repaired" whereas if it was properly designed, you could self-replace the battery.

This isn't an operating system or platform debate. this is a practical design debate.